The aluminum angle fuselage of the Parasol is
unique. It's very strong and easy to make and there's no welding.
The fuselage is riveted together and it's on its gear.
The cabanes and tail group are under
contemplation...
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Here's
another look with my son at the controls. Well, I guess I need
to build some controls anyway.
The firewall is 26 gauge galvanized steel bent over an MDF form |
There are a couple of details I want to point out:
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For
the landing gear I made up a steel bracket to fasten the bungee
strut to the cluster. I didn't like the idea of drilling a
hole through the head of a bolt and using tangs. Here, the
wheel bolt passes through the bracket. |
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The
tailwheel is an industrial caster attached to a piece of a trailer
spring. Tony Bingelis was right - you can drill spring steel
with a masonry bit and bend it in your vise with a 2x4 for
leverage. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. |
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Because
of the angles of the bottom longerons the landing gear attach points
are not in plane. This is how to fix it. I made these
brackets to lower the pivot point so it will swivel properly along
with the main gear. When it's all assembled it is amazing how
strong the gear actually is! |
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The
seat is a recycled chair mounted to heavy duty drawer slides.
It is ground-adjustable by loosening the black knob on each side and
repositioning it. |
There's a lot more to come of course. I enjoy
thinking through each step and weighing alternatives. Some of
my alternatives had to be discarded because they weighed too much...
Remember to build light!
